Madonna resurrects Michael Jackson for her new tour...
Here are some behind the scenes videos from the the last leg of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour. In the first clip, the now-cliched pre-show prayer circle, I love how she says, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm really excited about tonight's show." Wouldn't it have been great if one of the cast had said, "Mmmm-hmmm, maybe if it were the Confessions Tour"? The new setlist, which includes Dress You Up, Frozen and Holiday, actually makes me want to see this show, unlike the 2008 incarnation...
Pimpin' and prayin'?:
Boss lady:
Jump-rope diva:
Tick tock etc etc:
Hard Candy Music will likely have all the details of the summer tour.
Labels: Madonna
I am experiencing technical difficulties of the f*cked c-drive kind. We are in "data recovery mode" so I may slow down a bit over the next few days. I'll be back and beautiful as soon as possible. Until then, let me know what you think of the Florence and The Machine album!
The Gadsdens' Sailor Song was chosen by Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid as the music for this year's Glastonbury Festival awareness video.
The video was shown on the main stage throughout the festival and highlights the amazing work these charities are involved with and how the money raised by the event is used.
Congratulations to Jody and the band. This has been a long time coming and it's wonderful that such a beautiful song is associated with such powerful - and real life - images.
The video was shown on the main stage throughout the festival and highlights the amazing work these charities are involved with and how the money raised by the event is used.
Congratulations to Jody and the band. This has been a long time coming and it's wonderful that such a beautiful song is associated with such powerful - and real life - images.
Labels: Gadsdens
Madonna and Michael during the Victory Tour, summer 1984
In no order, my Top Songs for the second quarter of 2009. I still put on just one song by each artist (this quarter Florence and The Machine would have overtaken the list!). The colored link will take you to a place you can hear/see the song.
The Gossip Pop Goes The World youtube
David Guetta with Kelly Rowland When Love Takes Over video
Freemasons with SEB Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer video
Little Boots Not Now youtube
Annie Anthonio youtube
La Roux As If By Magic
Erik Hassle Make It In Time
Lucky Soul Whoa Billy! youtube
Maxwell Pretty Wings video
Florence & The Machine Cosmic Love youtube
Patrick Wolf The Sun Is Often Out myspace
Paolo Nutini Candy video
Marina and The Diamonds Obsessions video
Miike Snow Silvia youtube
Passion Pit The Reeling video
Jack Penate Body Down
Del Marquis Remember Me Young myspace
Fibes, Oh Fibes! Love Child video
Jimmy Somerville Hangin' On The Telephone myspace
Any recommendations?
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Worthy recent albums: Miike Snow, Patrick Wolf, The Gossip, Little Boots, La Roux, Jack Penate
What's coming: Florence and The Machine, A Fine Frenzy, Frankmusik, Rose Elinor Dougall (ex-Pipettes), Just Jack, Erik Hassle, Imogen Heap
Disappointing: Tori Amos, Depeche Mode (just okay), Maxwell (out next week), Paolo Nutini,
Labels: Best 09
It's been 7 years since Imogen Heap hijacked my list of favorite artists with Frou Frou's lush debut Details. I was nervous when she released Speak For Yourself in 2005 because she was without her collaborator, Guy Sigsworth. Little did I know until I heard that album that it's Imogen's style that dominates Frou Frou. Speak For Yourself became one of my favorite albums of 20o5 (a year with a 4-way tie: Madonna, Goldfrappp, Rachel Stevens and Immi). And now, four years later, we have Ellipse. Fans have heard bits and pieces of the record as she's made it, but no proper songs. Because she is a one-woman show, this album has been under her own lock and key, literally, in her house.
Obviously, you won't be able to miss it if you follow this blog, but if you don't know Imogen's last two albums, here is a list of what I consider the standout tracks:
Frou Frou's Details: Let Go, It's Good To Be In Love, Shhh, I Must Be Dreaming (my fave), The Dumbing Down Of Love
Immi's Speak For Yourself (review): Goodnight And Go, The Walk, Hide And Seek (many will say this song is her lasting legacy to pop music), Have You Got It In You, Just For Now, Closing In, The Moment I Said It
Ellipse is out on August 24/25.
Obviously, you won't be able to miss it if you follow this blog, but if you don't know Imogen's last two albums, here is a list of what I consider the standout tracks:
Frou Frou's Details: Let Go, It's Good To Be In Love, Shhh, I Must Be Dreaming (my fave), The Dumbing Down Of Love
Immi's Speak For Yourself (review): Goodnight And Go, The Walk, Hide And Seek (many will say this song is her lasting legacy to pop music), Have You Got It In You, Just For Now, Closing In, The Moment I Said It
Ellipse is out on August 24/25.
Labels: Imogen Heap
Rose Elinor Dougal Start/Stop/Synchro:
Beautifully shot video, pity they all seem to drown in the end. Rose is so cool and understated. She doesn't even have to try. The song itself is slight on melody and big on mood, but I like it and think it will sound good in the context of an album, which has still not been announced. Wouldn't it be great to get a new one from her and Lucky Soul this fall?
Beautifully shot video, pity they all seem to drown in the end. Rose is so cool and understated. She doesn't even have to try. The song itself is slight on melody and big on mood, but I like it and think it will sound good in the context of an album, which has still not been announced. Wouldn't it be great to get a new one from her and Lucky Soul this fall?
Labels: Pipettes, Rose Elinor Dougall
Michael Jackson is an artist who has been ubiquitous for so long that he becomes a life marker. I have to be frank, I find it hard to separate the two lives of Michael, the latter of which I will not dwell on here, despite my strong opinions. I was never an obsessive Jackson fan; for years I didn't own Thriller because I didn't need to - it was in my head! But Michael Jackson is a series of songs and images for me and millions of other people who thrive on music.Thriller came out when I was 13 years old and when I hear those songs, I think so much of being involved in my church youth group. I grew up Episcopalian, so we were kind of... low key... when it came to churchiness. We had such fun at pool parties and running around town, going to movies, etc. I particularly remember a ride back from a weekend retreat in the Georgia mountains in fall 1983, PYT playing several times on the car radio. I'd never liked it until that moment. Do you know what I mean? When a song hits you? Sometimes you even realize it in those seconds, that this song will always be this place and this time.
Soon after, there was a big Christmas party and I remember everyone stopping to watch Thriller on MTV. Which my family did not have, by the way. My parents got cable in 2003, I kid you not. We know how that video went over: it's in the pantheon of group dance moments. More importantly, it would be hard for today's pop crowd to understand how lily white MTV was in the early 80's. Michael blazed the path, ironically, for black artists.
I went to college on August 20, 1987 and Bad came out about a week later. Such a huge deal because it was the follow-up to the "greatest album in history." I didn't really love that cassette, but I do remember endlessly playing Man In The Mirror on my Walkman. There's a bit in the final moments of the song that always gives me chill. What is it? I am not sure how to describe it - it may be a chord change just after the amazing final bit starts at minute 4. It still loves me and I do believe that song is absolutely pure, no cynicism.
In 1991, I remember driving to shitty old Spotsylvania Mall (mmm-hmmm!) in Fredericksburg VA to watch the premiere of Black Or White on a bank of TVs in a Montgomery Ward department store. Punk, yes? Dangerous is another mixed bag, but again I fell for the glorious gospel drama of Keep The Faith, which is sort of Man In The Mirror Part II.
Around that time MJ's personal drama cranked up and my tastes went in different directions. I kind of tuned out and checked in only at various moments, like his "date" with Madonna to the Oscars. I hope Michael represents the end of the old school Hollywood story of a person whose life is eaten by fame. Self immolation really. We almost had another case of that in 2007 (Britney) and it sickens me that not only do people not learn from others mistakes, but that so many thrived on it, considered it fodder. Regardless, there are a few later Michael songs I felt were truly worthy, like the melancholy You Are Not Alone (don't get me started on the ironies of who wrote that song for him) and Stranger In Moscow, which reminds me of one of my favorite Michael songs, Human Nature.
Nothing sounds like Human Nature does it? So many songs and artists inspired by Michael over the years, but the gossamer Human Nature just cannot be imitated. It is everything pop music should be.
NPR is streaming Bjork's new Voltaic live album. You know, from the tour for Volta, that wanky last record she did with marching bands around the globe. Word is the tracks are better in their live arrangements.
The new photos are from her recent appearance in Interview.
*sorry for the title of this post. Me's tired!
Labels: Bjork
Little Dragon Twice:
When Wendy & Lisa tell you to pay attention to a group, you do it - in this case, Little Dragon. And the fact they're Swedish makes them all the better. A piano ballad built around two notes. From the Bjorkian school. Wintry.
On iTunes worldwide.
Update: Check out the interview series "Part 2" on W&L's youtube channel. It's in about 5 or 6 parts and is where I got the Little Dragon recommendation. These clips are also a must for Prince fans - they don't exactly "dish" but they are very candid. And very funny, sweet etc.
When Wendy & Lisa tell you to pay attention to a group, you do it - in this case, Little Dragon. And the fact they're Swedish makes them all the better. A piano ballad built around two notes. From the Bjorkian school. Wintry.
On iTunes worldwide.
Update: Check out the interview series "Part 2" on W&L's youtube channel. It's in about 5 or 6 parts and is where I got the Little Dragon recommendation. These clips are also a must for Prince fans - they don't exactly "dish" but they are very candid. And very funny, sweet etc.
Labels: Little Dragon
If you're as thrilled as I am by Florence and the Machine, be sure to check out Pete Paphides' piece in the June 19 Times, What's haunting Florence and the Machine? It features an exclusive live performance of Rabbit Heart that's gets better as it goes.
Meanwhile, the Independent says this about Cosmic Love, a song I played roughly 6 times in a row while driving in a rental car this weekend...
This – ahem – stellar cut would be the standout track from Florence's forthcoming debut album, Lungs, were the whole record not packed with potential hits.She did a little mini version of Rabbit Heart at London's Camberwell College of Art - watching this makes me wonder how people can get up and perform in a setting like this, surrounded by a bunch of judgmental college students with unusual haircuts..
Here also is a preview of album cut Howl. I am not sure if this is the final version or not, but I assume the U2'ish guitar is a hint of this being a newer mix...
Florence and the Machine Howl:
Finally, a guy named Robert commented a few weeks back on this great fan-made Rabbit Heart video:
Labels: Florence
New promo pic by Jeremy Cowart
We're just weeks from a new Imogen Heap song, Canvas, that she'll be putting out to blogs. The first official single from her album Ellipse is called First Train Home. I and many others have been following the making of this album for about two years. Her last two releases ('05's Speak For Yourself and '02's Details, with Frou Frou) were my favorites of their respective release years. The new album is finally out August 23/24 worldwide.
If you have not watched the "Making Of" Vblog series, it'll take you awhile as there are 40 clips - probably over 400 minutes of film. I love what she wrote on Youtube to close the first part of this project...
I so cannot wait for you to hear it. Maybe that's when it'll sink in that I'm finished for real... when you have it in your hands. until then.. it doesn't really exist. You're the final piece in all of this.
Imogen Heap The Final Vblog:
Someone - he knows who he is! - said to me today, "Unfortunately, integrity usually fails." But it doesn't always. No one is pure, that we know, but if Imogen Heap's work/art does not exemplify integrity, what does?
Labels: Imogen Heap
Quote of the Week, Elly Jackson: Does my voice bother you?
7 Comments By xolondon on Jun 19, 2009 at 8:33 PM.
This is what a fantastic album cover looks like
And then there's I'm Not Your Toy, which is out after Bulletproof," she adds, "which is much much happier and much brighter and maybe a little easier on the ear for people that couldn't quite grasp In For The Kill, because I know for a lot of people the vocals are quite shrill.Meanwhile, 8/1 has this bit of an interview with Patrick Wolf about the success of La Roux:
-Elly Jackson of La Roux, to the BBC
I’m not shocked... the week I was dropped they signed her, and all the money that had been going into me was going into her. The same photographers and styling team. It was like they took Patrick Wolf and put it into a girl. She’s lovely and she’s a great singer with good songs but, where I’m from, it’s not challenging. If people are taking from the past then they have to be futuristic with it. It’s easier for them to go straight to doo-wop or 80s templates and regurgitate.I thought Patrick walked away from his label, so I am not sure why he cares. Regardless, Elly is deep inside the starmaker machinery and will probably do well. The album clips sound more varied than her first two singles, though not, as Patrick points out, groundbreaking.
If you like LaRoux's sound, do yourself a favor and get the first two Missing Persons LPs- especially their second disc, Rhyme & Reason. I have that one framed on my wall! Gwen Stefani has been inspired by lead singer Dale Bozzio for years...
Labels: 80's, LaRoux, Patrick Wolf
Parlophone are actually releasing Fuck You as her new European single! They've produced a really clever video that manages to capture who Lily is without featuring one moment of her. I love the brief image of an American strip mall with the stores shuttered.
The gimmick reminds me of the 90's, when I used to do that stupid thing of getting someone in my eyeline, holding up my hand and squeezing my fingers together, saying "I am crushing you."
Lily Allen Fuck You:
Her next US/UK single is 22. I'd have preferred Back To The Start, which I think adds a bit of squizzy dancey-ness (hear it) to her output. I am actually the type of geek fan who thinks things like "Aw poo, that single will stickout like a sore thumbs on the hits collection." 22 is great, but it's not sublime.
Thanks Vinny Vero for the heads up!
The gimmick reminds me of the 90's, when I used to do that stupid thing of getting someone in my eyeline, holding up my hand and squeezing my fingers together, saying "I am crushing you."
Lily Allen Fuck You:
Her next US/UK single is 22. I'd have preferred Back To The Start, which I think adds a bit of squizzy dancey-ness (hear it) to her output. I am actually the type of geek fan who thinks things like "Aw poo, that single will stickout like a sore thumbs on the hits collection." 22 is great, but it's not sublime.
Thanks Vinny Vero for the heads up!
Labels: Lily
It sayeth to fair-skinned people: Stay out of the sun!
Truth is, it's a bad photo. Martin, who turns 48 in a month, does not always look so lined - it's the lighting and facial expression.
More tour pics here.
Question: Having lived with it for a few months, what are your thoughts on their new album Sounds Of The Universe? Please comment!
Here is a nicer new pic of Martin, so I don't feel guilty later...
Labels: Depeche
